When Joe F. Jiron was returned to his cell at the Utah County Jail Wednesday afternoon, he traded in the suit and tie he'd worn the past two weeks in court for the regular orange clothing worn by other inmates.
It could be a long time before Jiron wears the suit again.After deliberating for about 3 1/2 hours Wednesday, a 4th District jury found Jiron guilty of first-degree murder for killing his ex-wife, Shelly Ann Jiron. Her body was found Dec. 17, 1991, inside her wrecked and burned car west of Utah Lake. Jiron also was found guilty of third-degree arson for setting the car on fire.
Jiron showed little emotion when the verdicts were announced about 3 p.m. He shook hands with his attorneys and waved to family members while being escorted from the courtroom. His family remained outside the courtroom for more than 30 minutes embracing each other and weeping.
In closing arguments, Deputy Utah County Attorney Jim Taylor said Joe Jiron was distraught and tired of life when he left his West Valley home Dec. 16. He left a note giving directions to his wife, Dawn Jiron, on what to do with his belongings.
"When he left he wanted to die," Taylor said.
He then picked up Shelly Ann Jiron and the two spent the night of Dec. 16 in Wendover, Nev. Joe
Jiron became distraught again when he found a love letter in his
ex-wife's baggage the next day from a man named Norman. He killed her and then tried to kill himself and cover up the crime by setting her car on fire.
"He took that woman out in the desert, he killed her and he then tried to take his own life," Taylor said.
Testimony proved the injuries to Shelly Ann Jiron were inflicted prior to her death, Taylor said. Also, the state medical examiner said the victim was dead prior to the fire and crash, and she died from asphyxiation.
"Shelly was intentionally injured, intentionally hurt and intentionally killed," Taylor said.
Defense attorneys John Mussel-man and Dean Zabriske said Joe Jiron was not suicidal and Shelly Ann Jiron's death was an accident. Everyone who saw Joe Jiron the weekend prior to the accident said he was happy and in good spirits. He went to Wendover and had a good time with his ex-wife, they said.
"He certainly was not a man bent on his own self-destruction," Zabriske said.
Testimony that Shelly Ann Jiron had a brief pulse when first found shows she was alive prior to the fire and accident, the defense attorneys said. They said she possibly died from a spasm in the throat that was caused by the toxic fumes of the fire. They said there was no evidence of strangulation, no evidence of violence and no motive.
"It was not a murder and it was not perpetrated by Joe Jiron," Musselman said.
Taylor told jury members that even if they believed Shelly Ann Jiron was alive prior to the fire, her ex-husband still killed her because he set the fire that defense attorneys say caused her death.
Joe Jiron will be sentenced Nov. 13 by Judge Cullen Y. Christensen. He could be sentenced to five years to life in prison.